Scottish Golf Buying Group helps clubs make huge savings in 2018

NEWS RELEASE

Scottish golf clubs have made significant savings in just eight months through the Scottish Golf Buying Group, according to new end-of-year figures released today.

 

Clubs affiliated to Scottish Golf have saved more than £100,000 in utilities, electricity, gas and water alone since March, with the wider buying group’s total savings across all Scottish golf clubs using the new service now topping £180,000.

 

The Scottish Golf Buying Group is a newly formed service which help clubs across Scotland more efficiently manage their costs. With 188 golf clubs now registered in Scotland and actively engaged with the buying group through Scottish Golf’s partnership with Golf Management Group (GMG), the Scottish Golf Buying Group continues to gain stronger deals as part of their united approach.

 

Launched as part of Scottish Golf’s commitment to supporting clubs in response to a growing demand for the procurement service, the buying group enables clubs to save on key expenditure and are in line with competitive national rates.

 

Ross Duncan, Scottish Golf Development Director, said: “Launching the Scottish Golf Buying Group in partnership with GMG earlier this year has proved to be a fantastic success with credit due to all of the clubs who have committed to the service.

 

“Many of those clubs have reaped significant rewards and saved a valuable amount of money, time and resource. We look forward to developing this relationship further in the New Year and encourage more clubs to consider joining.”

 

With all the small gains adding up, clubs across the length and breadth of the country have enjoyed impressive savings which are invaluable to their business.

 

Other achievements so far:

• More than 50 golf clubs have transferred to the group’s exclusive new rate for waste management services and are making savings of between 11% to 30%. Furthermore, a number of clubs are in the process of moving their waste management contract which will result in average savings of £750 per club. 
• The exclusive SGBG national price file means that Scottish clubs are enjoying the most competitive waste management rates. SGBG in many cases transfers the club to lower waste management pricing without any change to the provider of the service.
• 27 golf clubs are engaged with the Scottish Golf Buying Group’s preferred telecoms provider and are now enjoying savings of up to 57% against previous costs.
• 19 clubs are in the process of moving over to the group’s washroom services, which will eventually lead to an average saving of £800 per club
• 12 clubs are currently changing over their Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) supplier, with potential savings of up to £4,000 per annum, simply by moving on to the SGBG price file.
• Specialised food procurement services is a huge growth area and has saved several clubs more than £5,000 per annum – an area that has tremendous scope for clubs to take advantage of.

 

The Scottish Golf Buying Group, which utilises the collective purchasing power of Scottish golf clubs to leverage significant discounts across a range of service categories, is free to access for all clubs affiliated to Scottish Golf. Some of the top performing categories include utilities, insurance and waste management, as well as food, telecoms and scorecards.

 

Colin Reid, club manager at Dundas Parks Golf Club, said: “We have benefited in a number of areas since joining the Scottish Golf Buying Group and I would recommend more clubs use it if you want to make savings without compromising service. 

 

“Our electricity, telephone and internet costs have all reduced significantly since we joined, by more than 50% in regards to telephone landline costs. On waste disposal the savings have been smaller but the buying group now manage this contract on our behalf. I have found the team to be very easy to deal with and very responsive.”

 

Campsie Golf Club saved more than £1,400 in three years across telecoms, gas, electricity and water – James Kerr, club secretary at Campsie Golf Club, added: “We would not hesitate in encouraging all golf clubs who have not joined to do so and hope our savings assist in showing the team’s tremendous efforts are reaping rewards for us.”

 

Ian Howieson, GMG Scotland and North East National Manager, commented: “We’re overwhelmed by the response we’ve had from partnering with Scottish Golf to join forces on our buying group. It’s been a great start to our first year with over £180,000 made in savings for clubs across Scotland. We look to work even closer with Scottish Golf in the New Year in the hope of reaching out to even more clubs and capitalising on these savings.”

 

With more and more clubs reaping the rewards, Scottish Golf members are being encouraged to consider signing up and those already members are looking at other cost areas of their business.

 

For further information on the Scottish Golf Buying Group, including how to sign up, visit https://www.scottishgolf.org/club-services/buying-group/

 

LEADING FINAL TOTALS AT LALLA AICHA FINAL TOUR SCHOOL

Amelkis Golf Club, Marrakesh, Morocco —par 360 (5x72)

334 Bronte Law (Eng) 70 71 62 64 67
335 Linnea Strom (Swe) 70 66 68 65 55

SCOTS' PLACINGS
358 Alison Muirhead (am) 73 73 70 71 71, Rachael Taylor  71 70 70 72 75, Vikki Laing 75 68 69 71 75 (T27)
359 Jane Turner 74 74 71 67 73 (T34)
362 Laura Murray 74 73 70 70 72 73 (T45)
365 Hannah McCook 75 74 73 71 72 (T60)

TO VIEW ALL THE FINAL TOTALS AND READVMORE— GO TO THE Scottish Golf View Website

5 SCOTS NAMED IN THE GB&I VAGLIANO SQUAD

An initial Great Britain and Ireland squad of 19 players has been selected by The R&A in preparation for the Vagliano Trophy match against the Continent of Europe at Royal St George’s next year.

Hannah Darling, (Broomieknowe), Chloe Goadby ( St Regulus) , Connie Jaffrey (Troon Ladies) and Hannah McCook (Granton and Spey) join Shannon McWilliam (Aboyne) in making up a contingent of five players from Scotland included in the group.

To read more go to the  SCOTTISHGOLF WEBSITE

RACHAEL TAYLOR IS LEADING SCOT IN MOROCCO AFTER THE 2ND ROUND

Rachael Taylor -- Courtesy of Jean Macintyre

It's tight at the top of the leaderboard after day two of the Ladies European Tour’s Final Stage Lalla Aicha Tour School as three players moved into a share of the lead.

Belgian Leslie Cloots (67), England’s Sian Evans (68) and and Swede Linnea Ström (66) share the lead on eight-under-par, one clear of Germany’s Esther Henseleit (69), who also played her second round at Amelkis Golf Club.

Lanarkshire's past County Champion Rachael Taylor is the leading Scot who is tied in 14th place with past Curtis Cup player Bronte Law on 3 under par. 

Vikki Laing is tied for 25^thspot on one-under-par.

There will be a cut to the leading 60 players and ties after 72 holes, after which the top five will earn category 5c membership and those in positions six to 25 will earn category 8 membership of the LET for 2019.

HOW THE SCOTS STAND
141 Rachael Taylor 71 70 (T14)
143 Vikki Laing 75 68 (T25)
146 Alison Muirhead (am) 73 73 (T40)
147 Laura Murray 74 73 (T57)
148 Jane Turner 74 74 (T68)
149 Hannah McCook 75 74 (T76)

SEASONS GREETINGS TO ALL OUR READERS

GO TO THE RLCGA WEBSITE TO SEE MORE

Please note if you would like to post a message on this site please email me and it will be added

JUNIOR COACHING FOR GIRLS IN RENFREWSHIRE

Click to enlarge

Gillian Kyle along with Clair Barclay, Liz Hale, Gill McLeod and Lynda Bradley are trying to give girls in Renfrewshire with and without a handicap some sessions to attend over the winter. 

Currently there are 12 girls going to Clare-Marie Macauley at Paisley Golf Club for 4 formal sessions but they have organised another 5 sessions to include ALL girls. 

All the junior conveners in the county have been contacted with the information. -- 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE POSTER and email Gillian Kyle if you are interested.

AYRSHIRE GOLF RANKINGS WEEK 49 - 2018

mygolfranking.net AYRSHIRE LADIES GOLFER ofWeek 18/49 is KATH MACKELLOR (West Kilbride Ladies) who enters the Top 20 of Ayrshire Ladies MGRanking at No 11.

 ​

AYRSHIRE LADIES

 

1 KELLY MCNEE (Loudoun Gowf) 1056 points 

2 Emma Thomson (Loudoun Gowf) 1032 

3 Sheena Murchie (Lamlash) 1021 

4 Audrey Thompson (Loudoun Gowf) 1014  

5 Christine Whitelaw (Largs) 1009 

6 Catherine Garrett (West Kilbride) 1001​ 

7 Aileen Anderson (Loudoun Gowf) 985  

8 Jean Capes (Largs) 972 

T9 Maureen Paterson (Prestwick St Cuthbert), Pauline Patrick (Irvine) 953

11 Kath Mackellor (West Kilbride) 940 

12 Joanne Sharp (Kilmarnock (Barassie)) 927 

13 Linda McDonald (Kilmarnock (Barassie)) 915 

14 Lindsay Smith (Troon Welbeck) 909 

15 Christine Fyfe (Kilmarnock (Barassie)) 908 

16 Helen Craig (West Kilbride) 907 

17 Gillian Gowers (Loudoun Gowf) 905

18 Lesley Lloyd (Troon GC Ladies) 898 

19 Gillian Kyle (Troon GC Ladies) 896 

20 Helen Love (Kilmarnock (Barassie)) 891

​

If you and your golfing friends want to regularly check out your Club MGRanking, the full Regional, National and International MGRankings, Movers & Shakers, How It Works and free Registration for golfers and clubs, visit mygolfranking.net

KILMACOLM LADIES ARE BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE CHRISTMAS

Some of the Kilmacolm Golf Club Ladies

The County Finals were held at Kilmacolm Golf Club this year where the ladies were magnificent and couldn’t do enough for us all – they had indeed been superbly organised.

Now it is December and there was certainly a fantastic, festive turnout for their  Christmas Cracker competition, followed by mince pies and mulled wine in the clubhouse - plus a terrific organised photograph of them taken at the end of the day !!

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas 🎶

SPONSORED SPEED GOLF BY PERTH AND KINROSS COUNTY - 18 HOLES IN 35 MINUTES AND 26 SECONDS !!

Perth and Kinross Speed Golfers

It proved to be 3rd time lucky for Perth and Kinross County Sponsored Speed Golf event at Strathmore Golf Club on Sunday. 

Postponed twice due to bad weather, the event finally went ahead after the Coaching on Sunday.  The Speed Golf Team included seven Senior Squad members and one Match Secretary.  They were as follows:

Katy Alexander, Megan Ashley, Laura Campbell, Jenny Collins, Jen Saxton, Isla Moncrieff, Laura Walker & Caroline Henderson.

With Isla's plan in hand, they raced round the 18 holes in an astonishing 35 mins & 26 seconds.  And, they almost broke 90!  Well done everyone.  It was a fantastic team performance!

The event raised £311 for County funds 

To read more and see a slide show go to the Perth and Kinross Website   

SLEEP IN THE PARK -- HELP KAREN, MARGARET, SAL AND ALI'S FUNDRAISING WITH A BID FOR A FOURBALL AT DUNBAR GOLF CLUB

Margaret Whelan, Sal Shepherd, Ali Mackie and Karen Ballantyne.

On Saturday 8th December the charity SocialBite’s ‘Sleep in the Park’ fundraising event took place to raise money for and awareness of homelessness in Scotland. 

10,000 people across four cities in Scotland chose to sleep out overnight, and in Edinburgh this took place in Princes Street Gardens. 
The SocialBite Charity aims to help those who have no choice but to sleep out in all weathers. 

Three lady golfers from Dunbar Golf Club, current Ladies Champion Margaret Whelan, past champions Karen Ballantyne (Scottish Vets Vice Captain) and Sal Shepherd together with Craigmillar Park Golf Club’s Ali Mackie took part in the event. 

 The ladies were under no illusion their experience would be a true representation of what it is like to sleep rough every night butit certainly was a tough night. The event heightened the ladies awareness of what an ordeal it must be to have to take to the streets each night, especially at this time of year. 

The ladies are so grateful to all those who have supported them. 

To date they have raised around £8,000 and stand 8th in the league of Top Individual and Teams Fundraisers. The fundraising has not stopped and the ladies are grateful to Dunbar Golf Club who have donated 2 four ball vouchers (for play Monday to Wednesday) to auction. 
 Normal price would be between £50 and £85 PER PERSON depending on when you play so there is a chance of a real bargain here! Anyone wanting to place a bid should email Karen on karen97881@gmail.com 

 Closing date for bids is Saturday 22nd December. The Dunmuir Hotel have also offered a 10% discount to anyone who would like to stay there before or after their game. 

 Also donations can still be made to https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Team/KBsAllStars until 24 December.

PLEASE SUPPORT KAREN AND HER TEAM AND SEE IF WE CAN GET THEM TO THE TOP SPOT

CONGU must take head out of the sand over rule change

By Martin Dempster

How disappointing to hear that the Council of National Golf Unions is not permitting one of the key changes in the New Rules of Golf coming into effect on 1 January in counting competitions.

The whole point of introducing a Local Rule to stop a player having to return to the tee after either losing a ball or discovering it has gone out of bounds was to help speed 
up play.

There is probably not a golf club in Scotland where the pace of play in a medal isn’t adversely affected by people having to trudge dejectedly back to a tee.

Yet, it is stated on the CONGU
 website and, consequently, is being relayed at various rules seminars taking place in preparation for 1 January, that the new Local Rule is not being encouraged in club 
competitions.

No, the “stroke-and-distance relief” is only “appropriate for general play where golfers are playing casual rounds or playing their own competitions”.

What utter nonsense. Yes, of course, this isn’t a rule that should ever be implemented in professional or elite level amateur 
competitions.

However, the sooner CONGU gets its head out of the sand over this one the better. Attempts to speed up the game simply have to 
be embraced.

Scottish Golf - ThisGirlsGolf - on Tour Event

Scottish Golf is holding a ThisGirlGolfs-on-tour event which takes place at Broadlees Golf Club South Lanarkshire in January 2019. 

Events are a great way for girls to meet new friends in their local area...

Book your spot ➡️ ow.ly/6xmF30mVqxQ

GETINTOGOLF CHRISTMAS CHEER AT DOUGLAS PARK GOLF CLUB

Douglas Park Ladies Christmas Lunch

Some of the GetIntoGolf Girls

Douglas Park Golf Club held their annual Ladies Christmas lunch yesterday. Many of the new GetIntoGolf Girls that have now joined the club enjoyed the event and certainly added plenty of action to the annual sing song !! - CLICK ON THE VIDEO BELOW

For more Photos -- Courtesy of Ann Fisher -- CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON THE GETINTOGOLF CAMPAIGNS

FOUR SCOTS QUALIFY FOR FINAL QUALIFYING SCHOOL

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

Hannah McCook (Grantown-on-Spey) covered her last 36 holes in nine under par with scores of 68 and 67 and a total of 285 to qualify for the Final Qualifying School of the Lalla Aicha Tour from December 16 to 20 at Marrakesh, Morocco.

Other Scots to come through the final eliminator at Amelkis Golf Club, also in Morocco, were amateur Alison Muirhead (280) who was the top Scot, Rachael Taylor (283) and Heather Stirling (285).

But Aboyne's Kimberley Beveridge missed the cut by 12 strokes with scores of 79, 74, 75 and 75 for 303.

LEADING TOTALS
Par 288 (4x72)
265 L Strom (Swe) 66 69 62 68.
271 Leona Maguire (Ire) 70 66 68 67
275 D Dagar (India) (am) 70 762 64 69, N Dreher (Austria) 66 68 71 70.

SCOTS' TOTALS
280 A Muirhead (am) 68 70 72 70 (T8)
283 R Taylor 66 72 74 71 (13th)
285 H McCook 73 77 68 67, H Stirling 72 72 71 70 (T17)

SELECTED TOTALS
286 S Lamb (Eng) 74 69 72 71 (T22)
290 S-J Boyd (Eng) 71 76 72 71 (T31)

MISSED THE CUT (291 and better qualified)

293 Lisa Maguire (Ire) 74 75 71 73
303 K Beveridge (Sco) 79 74 75 74 

Hannah, Alison, Heather and Rachael -- look set to qualify at Tour Qualifying School

Scots Hannah McCook, Alison Muirhead, Heather Stirling and Rachael Taylor look set to qualify for the Final Stage of the Lalla Aicha Tour Qualifying School over five rounds from December 16 to 20 in Morocco.

 But Kimberley Beveridge needs a spectacular finish if she is to make up enough ground from her joint 55th position.

McCook, Muirhead, Stirling and Taylor should figure among the leading 38 and ties who will advance from the current pre-qualifying eliminator at Amelkis Golf Club after Monday's final round.

Muirhead is joint ninth on 210; Taylor T15 on 212; Stirling T21 on 215 while McCook shot one of the third day's best rounds - a six-under-par, seven-birdie 66 - for joint 30th place on 216. Sweden's Linnea Storm leads the field by seven shots from Ireland's Leona Maguire after a brilliant six-under 62 for a 54-hole tally of 197. 

Aboyne's Kimberley Beveridge looks out of contention for qualifying after a 75 (38-37) for 228 and a share of 55th place in a field of 70. 

 LEADERBOARD par 216 (3x72) 
197 L Strom (Swe) 66 69 62 
204 Leona Maguire (Ire) 70 66 68 2
05 N Dreher (Aut) 66 68 71. 

 SELECTED SCORES 
210 A Muirhead (Sco) 68 70 72, G Price (Eng) 72 70 69 (T9). 
212 R Taylor (Sco) 66 72 74, C H Leathem (Eng) 68 68 76 (T15). 
215 H Stirling (Sco) 72 72 71, S Lamb (Eng) 74 69 72 (T21) 
216 H McCook (Sco) 73 77 66 (T30) 219 S-J Boyd (Eng) 71 76 72 (T35) 
221 Lisa Maguire (Ire) 74 71 75 (T39) 
228 K Beveridge (Sco) 79 74 75 (T55) 
235 A Plumb (Eng) 76 82 77. 

Leading 38 and ties after Round 4 advance to the Final Q School over five rounds in Morocco from December 16 to 20.

RENFREWSHIRE AND LANARKSHIRE COUNTY WINTER FOURSOMES UPDATES

Selfie - Lesley Anderson, Clair Barclay, Liz Hale and Lynda Bradley

The last of the 2nd round ties of the Renfrewshire ladies County Winter Foursomes was played at the beginning of this week with the Kilmacolm pair of Lynda Bradley and Clair Barclay winning against Liz Hale and Lesley Anderson (Caldwell) - 

To read the full report go to the RLCGA Website

QUARTER FINALIST AND RESULTS

CLICK TO ENLARGE TO SEE THE RESULTS

In the Lanarkshire County Winter foursomes 1st Semi Final Strathaven Golf Club pairing of  Susan Halley and Anne Cameron beat Pauline Warlow and Carol McKinnon (Cathkin Braes) by 1 hole to reach the final. 

Scot Rachael Taylor sharing lead at LET Q School prelim in Morocco

By Colin Farquharson 

Airdrie-born Rachael Taylor figured in a triple tie for two-stroke first-round lead in the Ladies European Tour Qualifying School preliminary competition at Amelkis Golf Club, Morocco today (Friday).

The Scot shot a six-birdie, bogey-free score of 66 with gains at the fifth, 11th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th to share the pole position with Nadine Dreher (Austria) and Sweden's Linnea Strom. 

Next best Scot was Alison Muirhead, one of five players sharing fourth place on 68. 

Heather Stirling was in joint 27th place in a field of 70 competitors overnight after a par-matching 72.
Grantown-on-Spey's Hannah McCook shared 35th place with a 73 but Aboyne amateur Kimberley Beveridge had an error-strewn 79 which left her in joint 63rd position. She had double bogeys at the par-3 fifth and par-5 ninth in halves of 41-38, which did not contain a single birdie.
The eliminating competition is over five rounds.

LEADERBOARD
par 72
66 N Dreher (Aut), L Strom (Swe), R Taylor (Sco).
68 C H Leathem (Eng), F Moerk (Swe), T Malik (India), A Muirhead (Sco), M Cappeliez (Fra).
SELECTED SCORES
70 Leona Maguire (Ire) (T11)
72 H Stirling (Sco) (T27)
73 H McCook (Sco) T35)
74 Lisa Maguire (Ire), S Lamb (Eng) (T39)
70 K Beveridge (Sco) (T63)

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE SCORING

SO WHATS NEW FOR 2019 BECOME A RULES GURU — PART 3 - BUNKERS

In 2019, bunkers will be given their very own Rule number and specific relief Rules. Under Rule 12, players will be allowed to touch or move loose impediments in a bunker and will be generally allowed to touch the sand with a hand or club. However limitations will remain, including prohibiting testing the condition of the sand or touching the sand whilst preparing for the stroke. In addition to this Rule change, when a player decides to treat their ball as unplayable within a bunker, there will now be an extra relief option: taking relief outside the bunker using the back-on-the-line procedure, for a total of two penalty strokes.

100+ Clubs Register Interest in Exciting New Digital Solution... National Conference Recap

Scottish Golf are delighted to announce a tremendous response to the launch of their new digital solution with over 100 golf clubs registering an interest within 48 hours.

The club management solution will be free of charge to all Scottish Golf affiliated clubs and includes a booking tee-sheet, handicap and membership management, point of sale, integrated payment processing, tour level live scoring software with more features to come.

In addition, golf clubs will receive a fully customisable and easy-to-configure website which includes complimentary hosting.

The announcement came at Edinburgh’s International Conference Centre on Saturday 1 December where 450 delegates attended their National Conference, with thousands more tuning in online.

For those of you who didn't manage to attend, they hope you enjoy this video recap of the day, starting with their CEO Andrew McKinlay who opened proceedings by outlining their vision for the future. 

To read more and see the videos  CLICK HERE

£2 MILLION BOOST FOR JUNIOR GOLF

The R&A has committed to provide £2 million to the Golf Foundation over the next four years to support its drive to inspire more young people to play golf and to increase the retention of juniors within the sport to boost membership. 

The Golf Foundation will give over two million young people the chance to try golf for the first time using its Tri-Golf and Street Golf participation initiatives, which take adapted versions of the sport to young people at schools, sports centres, parks and multi-use games facilities in Great Britain and Ireland. 

Around 180,000 youngsters will also be introduced to coaching through the Golf Foundation’s HBSC Golf Roots Centres, a large network of junior friendly golf clubs that provide taster sessions in local schools and coaching delivered by PGA Professionals. 

Retaining young golfers

Activities including the GolfSixes League and Girls Golf Rocks will focus on retaining younger golfers in the sport by giving them access to fun, competitive golf more regularly and establish a pathway for over 15,000 juniors to become members of clubs. 

The Girls Golf Rocks programme, jointly run with England Golf, also forms part of the Golf Foundation’s commitment to supporting The R&A’s Women in Golf Charter and will deliver more coaching opportunities for girls as well as mentoring by existing volunteers who work in junior golf. 

Grassroots golf

Duncan Weir, Executive Director – Golf Development and Amateur Events at The R&A, said, “We are very supportive of grassroots initiatives that aim to grow the sport by inspiring more youngsters into playing golf and encouraging them to go on to become members of golf clubs. 

“The Golf Foundation has a proven track record of delivering innovative participation programmes together with our affiliates in Great Britain and Ireland and we are excited by its ambitions to grow participation in junior golf over the next four years and beyond.”

Future of golf

Stephen Lewis, Chairman of the Golf Foundation, said, “Working alongside our partners, the Golf Foundation is reaching increasing numbers of young people and our strategic objective of helping more young people to ‘Start, Learn and Stay’ in golf is designed to help protect the future of the sport. 

“The R&A’s continued support is fantastic – from GolfSixes League through to The Open – it is an outstanding commitment. They are backing this charity to ensure golf is fresh and exciting for the next generation.” 

The R&A SwingZone

The R&A SwingZone, which offers thousands of young people the opportunity to come and try golf for free in the Spectator Village during The Open each year, will also continue to be supported by the Golf Foundation. 

Over 4,500 individuals enjoyed attending The R&A SwingZone during The 147th Open at Carnoustie earlier this year and were joined by 1999 Champion Golfer Paul Lawrie and HSBC Golf Roots ambassadors Tim Henman and Brian O’Driscoll.

For more information about the Golf Foundation please visit www.golf-foundation.org

FESTIVE GOLF ACADEMY AT PAISLEY GOLF CLUB

Festive Fun for the Juniors

Clare- Marie and target golf

Past Renfrewshire County Player Clare-Marie Macauley who recently held a coaching session for the Renfrewshire County Girls held a Festive Academy Competition yesterday at Paisley Golf Club. 

The weather didn’t dampen the spirits of the 30 boys and girls who can be seen to be enjoying the indoor challenges and having lots of fun.

Scottish Golf - Ross Duncan (left) and Clare-Marie Junior Coaching program

The stars for the future -- Well done Clare- Marie #getintogolf #girlsgolf #fun

Clare-Marie is the assistant professional who runs a superb junior coaching program at Paisley Golf Club where her brother Andy Carlton is the professional.

DOUGLAS PARK SECRETARY GIVES HER OVERVIEW AT THE SCOTTISH GOLF CONFERENCE OF THE GETINTOGOLF CAMPAIGN

After a very good campaign last year in the GetIntoGolf at Douglas Park Golf Club and further advertising -- Douglas Park Secretary Ann Scott gave an overview at the Scottish Golf Conference in Edinburgh yesterday

The official Scottish Golf video can be found by CLICKING HERE and you can go to approx 1hour 47 minutes and then to 1 hour 56 minutes. - to hear her interview (much better quality and sound) 

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ORIGINAL EVENT LAST YEAR AND VIDEO

AND HERE FOR THE SCOTTISH GOLF REPORT

Paul Lawrie has described the new Scottish Golf App as Phenomenal

Paul Laurie 

By Martin Dempster

Paul Lawrie has described Scottish Golf’s trail-blazing new app as “phenomenal” and believes it can help turn the golf centre he owns on the outskirts of Aberdeen into a profit-making facility.

The 1999 Open champion delivered his glowing endorsement for the digital platform, which is being offered free to golf clubs around the country at a time when just 21 per cent of the total golfing population in the sport’s birthplace is made up of club members, as he attended the second Scottish Golf national conference in Edinburgh. 

Lawrie, who is actively involved in running his golf centre on the south side of the River Dee along with his wife Marian, also gave a thumbs-up to the governing body encouraging clubs to allow so-called nomadic golfers to gain handicaps by playing in open competitions.

“It is hugely challenging, no matter who you are,” said Lawrie during a chat on stage with Iain Forsyth, Scottish Golf’s commercial director, in front of 450 fellow delegates, when asked about his facility. “The golf industry has not gone through the best of times and hasn’t done for a long, long time. Our facility currently runs at a slight loss every year and has done for a wee while, but we are trying to change that.

“We’ve got a lot of talented people who work very hard for us and we have recently become a Scottish Golf-affiliated club so people can get a handicap with us now. We’ve put in a couple of new tees to give us two par-4s and seven par-3s. You can play a medal now and that has helped us a little bit, but, having said that, we only gained 28 or 29 new members through that, so it is still a little bit of a struggle. 

“But if people who are not members of a club are able to have a handicap, if that meant a club like us was able to lay on a competition that would see 40 or 50 new golfers paying a green fee every week, that could be the difference. That would be a lot of money for a golf club like our one that loses money.”

Lawrie was speaking before the new app, which has been developed by leading tech company OCS for Scottish Golf to allow clubs to fully exploit income from pay-and-play golfers, was rolled out to delegates, the majority of whom were golf club administrators and committee members.

“I just had a wee look at the app and it is just phenomenal,” added Lawrie. “For a golf centre like us, it will be great to have this free app. Who’s not wanting that as a golf club? I think people will be blown away when they see it. We will certainly be using it and we will be embracing it to try and turn a corner for us and I think it will.”

A more positive event than the inaugural one 12 months ago, when the focus was on the fact that 5,000 club members in Scotland had been lost each year for a decade, this conference started with chair Eleanor Cannon saying she felt confident Scottish Golf’s stakeholders had now “united” after a “turbulent time over ten years”.

In his address, chief executive Andrew McKinlay said that the governing body had a “firm financial footing” thanks to its stakeholders agreeing to an increase in the affiliation fee earlier in the year while Ross Duncan, the development director, updated delegates on a staff re-shuffle – seven regional development managers will be backed up by six central support managers – that is aimed at helping clubs in the ongoing fight with declining memberships. “Everyone has to be at the heart of change. Live it and breathe it!” he said. One of the main changes being sought is getting more women into the game at a time when females make up only 13 per cent of the total membership in Scotland. The governing body is also keen to change a culture that currently sees 83.5 per cent of clubs holding their main competitions on a Saturday reserved for men.

“Last year was a line in the sand,” said McKinlay, who attended that event as a member when he still worked for the Scottish Football Association, as he summed up this conference. “Since I came in I’ve felt nothing but goodwill. Everyone wants to go in the right direction. We have given them some specific things. Maybe they are not used to that. Maybe they are just used to talk. But I think people feel quite upbeat about what we are trying to do.”

Scottish Golf outlines ambitious plans for future at National Conference

By Michael McEwan (Bunkered Magazine) 

That was the rallying cry from chief executive Andrew McKinlay at Scottish Golf’s National Conference.

The event, which took place at the EICC in Edinburgh yesterday , was attended by over 450 delegates from across the game and saw the national governing body provide details of strategies it has devised to safeguard the sport’s future and that of its constituent clubs, as well as an update on performance across the spectrum of the grassroots game.

The underlying theme was one of looking to the future and “leaving Scottish golf better than we found it”

Referencing the book Legacy by James Kerr, which documents the culture of the All Blacks, New Zealand’s all-conquering rugby union side, McKinlay said: “They believe firmly in many things but one of those things is something called whakapapa, which means ‘to be a good ancestor’

“That is what we all must strive to be, as we are simply custodians of this wonderful game in the home of golf.”

The conference took place almost a year to the day from the first such conference, which was arranged with Scottish Golf in disarray following the resignation of McKinlay’s predecessor Blane Dodds and with the controversial strategy he had outlined having been stood down in the face of widespread criticism.

McKinlay was in attendance last year as a golf club member but, having been appointed chief executive of the organisation in February, had a prominent role today, where the mood in the room was considerably more optimistic than this time 12 months ago.

Well it might be, too.

After having been rejected earlier in the year, Scottish Golf finally saw plans to increase its affiliation fee pushed through in October. That, in turn, has allowed the organisation to budget better for the coming years and put in place a number of plans to help golf clubs adapt to match consumer behaviour. 

Central to those plans is a brand new digital management system, which was unveiled today.

Developed by OCS Sport, which works with more than 30 pro golf tours worldwide, it will allow clubs to “take control of business” through a single, centralised system. It will provide everything from tee time bookings, to a point of sale system to a free, to customisable website for every club, area and county in the country. What’s more, it is completely free of charge. 

The app will also be free to download for golf club members, enabling them to book tee times quickly and easily, as well as track their scores and access a virtual caddie. 

Non golf club members will also be able to download the app but will be required to pay a small fee for the privilege.

All of the revenue generated will be reinvested into the game in a bid to redress an imbalance 

Amongst other things, Scottish Golf believes this will help tackle the issue of handicap-only memberships and third party handicap providers. 

Improving finances is the third of three pillars of the new Scottish Golf strategy and, according to McKinlay, is the one that was the “most challenging” issue to come out of last year’s conference.

“I have spent much of my time since I came into the job working with our chief financial, Iain Forsyth,” he said. “A particular challenge was laid down at last year’s conference about our non-membership income and also around how we harness the wealth of the pay-per-play golfers within the Scottish golf family.”

Referencing Henry Ford, he added: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got. You don’t turn a circa £3.5m business into a £6m+ turnover, which is what we’re looking to do within the next four years, by getting a few sponsorship agreements here and there. You need to come up with something far more radical.”

The new club management platform would appear to be that “something”.

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie was amongst those in attendance today in his capacity as a golf centre proprietor and he said he was 'blown away’ by the new digital package.

“The app is just phenomenal,” added Lawrie, who revealed that his Aberdeenshire facility has been operating at a small loss ‘for some time’. “For a golf centre like ours, it’s going to be fantastic. We’ll be using it to try to help turn the corner.”

Of course, creating the tools is just the beginning; getting people to use them will be where the battle is won and lost.

That’s something that is in no way lost on McKinlay.

“Technology is only an enabler so it’s now all about the marketing of it,” he said. “We’re going to have to work hard to get the story out there, both through external channels and our own marketing." 

OTHER NOTES FROM THE SCOTTISH GOLF NATIONAL CONFERENCE

• Andrew McKinlay revealed that Scottish Golf had a “very, very positive” meeting with sportscotland recently and hopes to announce a “substantial” four-year commitment from the organisation in January.

• On the junior front, plans for a new “national junior framework” are “progressing well”, whilst the 12-strong Young Persons Golf Panel will start in January. Scottish Golf also intends a national roll out of its Junior Golf Sixes programme in 2019, with the final potentially taking place in the lead up to the Solheim Cup at Gleneagles.

• Scottish Golf is aiming to get 100 clubs signed up to the R&A Women & Girls Charter in 2019 as it aims to increase the proportion of female golf club members in Scotland (currently 13%).